Chad Colter Dietterle
Chad Colter Dietterle, 43, Rapid City, SD, passed away on August 31, 2021.
Chad was born in Hettinger, ND on July 10th, 1978 to Dennis and Sandra Dietterle, joining his sister, Brandy, to make a family of four. He attended elementary school in Lemmon and Sturgis, SD before landing at EB Bergquist in Rapid City, SD. He went to Dakota Junior High and graduated from Central High School in 1997. There, he met the love of his life, Shari Silbernagel, and married her on August 2nd, 2003 in a beautiful mountain ceremony in Red Lodge, MT. His destiny as a family man was cemented when their son, Landen, was born on September 27th, 2010.
Rather unheard of in this day, Chad worked for Cretex (now Forterra) since he graduated high school, nearly 25 years ago. A dedicated employee, he built concrete pipe for many years, and eventually worked his way up to designing infrastructure plans for new businesses in our community.
Chad was an incredible son, brother, uncle, father, and husband. He was a dedicated family man from the beginning—spending summers with his grandma, Lorraine, at their family ranch in Meadow, SD. Later in life, he was always the guy in the middle of the group of kids leading them on their latest adventure. He was an amazing father to Landen, spending endless amounts of time throwing batting practice, riding bikes or taking him fishing. He was a gifted coach for many years, sharing his love of baseball with Landen and many others who were lucky to be on his team.
We often called him chit-chat Chet, because he could strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere, whether we were in a hurry to leave or not. He was always clowning around, literally fighting bulls at the rodeo, or at home with his friends and family; he always knew how to have a good time. When Chad was around, there was always an adventure brewing. He had a passion for outdoor fun, be it fishing, hunting, sledding, or four-wheeling. Chad was the instigator of fun and everyone was invited.
A true fisherman at heart, Chad was always willing to take someone out to catch their limit, but don’t you dare get worm dirt or sunflower seeds in his boat. The lecture was short lived and quickly turned back to friendly heckling, laughter, and stories about the one that got away. When it came to boating, Chad was always a bit mischievous and had a heavy hand on the throttle. While he hoped to dump someone off the tube, he always cared more about making sure everyone else had fun.
Beyond just having fun, Chad was always a caretaker of others before himself. He loved cooking a big meal, and he refused to eat before everyone else had. A shirt-off-your-back kind of guy, Chad was always willing to lend a helping hand.
Chad, Shari and Landen loved their adventures driving down dirt roads, exploring the hills or prairie, and searching for their little piece of heaven. They eventually found it in a little plot on the east side of Rapid City where the dogs roam, the garden flourishes, the pool is warm, and the beer is cold. Their love of animals is evidenced by the herd of dogs, cats, ferrets and all the other wildlife that wanders through.
As we sit here around the campfire, we are missing his presence and are devastated that he’s moved on before the rest of us. However, we’re forever thankful for the time we shared with him and the example that he set for us follow. We pledge to carry on his legacy until we meet again.
The Celebration of Life that was to be held on September 11th has been cancelled due to Covid.
